Now that profjulie has discovered how to read library ebooks with her Cybook Gen3, people may be looking for ebook libraries (elibraries) where they can check out ebooks.

There has been some talk on this BLOG about "clevnet" which seems to be restricted to libraries in the Cleveland Ohio (USA) area. However since electrons can easily travel worldwide, is there any reason to restrict ebook check out to geographical areas? Are there any elibraries that are open to the general public, regardless of where they live? Does anyone know of cooperative efforts of elibraries across geo-political boundries?

I live in north Alabama and have not found any elibraries where fiction ebooks can be checked out.

It would be interesting to compile a list of elibraries along with their check out restrictions.

Now that profjulie has discovered how to read library ebooks with her Cybook Gen3, people may be looking for ebook libraries (elibraries) where they can check out ebooks.

There has been some talk on this BLOG about "clevnet" which seems to be restricted to libraries in the Cleveland Ohio (USA) area. However since electrons can easily travel worldwide, is there any reason to restrict ebook check out to geographical areas? Are there any elibraries that are open to the general public, regardless of where they live? Does anyone know of cooperative efforts of elibraries across geo-political boundries?

I live in north Alabama and have not found any elibraries where fiction ebooks can be checked out.

It would be interesting to compile a list of elibraries along with their check out restrictions.

there are some libraries that permit full checkout by anybody but they are few and far between and are usually Universities. check my web site for more on this topic and other eBook stuff.

Public libraries use public funds for purchasing the books and these funds are generated by local taxes. For this reason they limit the checkout to people who paid for the books. This is generally done by requiring a locally obtained library card. By rights you need to check with your local library and convince them to offer eBooks. This is where the tax money you paid was spent. You can't expect tax money spent in another state or even another county to be used by you for free.

I searched and searched the internet for libraries that have eBook collections. Unfortunately, there are no libraries in the area where I live, university or otherwise, that offers this option. I found libraries that allow me to read books online but not check them out.

In my search I found Cleveland, OH, New York, and Seattle, WA. My sister lives in Seattle, WA, so I borrowed her library card for a time to see how well it works. Now that I know I'll be able to check electronic books out of the Seattle library, I'll see if I can buy a non resident Library card from Seattle.

I found a few other web-only libraries that I could pay a subscription fee to, but their eBook collection was not very extensive.

My local county library system only allows residents to check out ebooks. That's probably because you have to have a library card to access the online library and they only allow residents to get a library card.

I also suggest a Google search for site:libwise.com. There are many other libraries using this system, and some of them don't even charge a fee. My favorite is the KnowBetter Lending Library (many books, for free).

I also suggest a Google search for site:libwise.com. There are many other libraries using this system, and some of them don't even charge a fee. My favorite is the KnowBetter Lending Library (many books, for free).

This is somehow connected to Fictionwise. I "borrowed" a book there & it shows up on my Fictionwise borrowed list.

This is somehow connected to Fictionwise. I "borrowed" a book there & it shows up on my Fictionwise borrowed list.

That's not suprising since Fictionwise owns the technology and leases it out. I looked into this myself and you basically contract with Fictionwise in a subscription fee type of arrangement. If I remember correctly, Fictionwise provides the technology and the books and you pay based on the number of subscribers you have.

I also suggest a Google search for site:libwise.com. There are many other libraries using this system, and some of them don't even charge a fee. My favorite is the KnowBetter Lending Library (many books, for free).

Their selection is still limited, and it's not free, it's $19.95/year.

edit:
I looked at the rest of the results from a google search for libwise and they all appear to be local libraries. I tried to sign up for one and it required my library card number, which of course isn't going to match their system. So it looks like right now KnowBetter is the better choice than Fictionwise because they do seem to have a larger selection, and it's $10 less/year (of course at fictionwise you're also getting their buyer's club).